Hoping to cash in on the urban cycling trend, European automakers have started branching out into the world of human-powered transportation, according to the London Evening Standard. BMW, Volkswagen, Peugeot, and Cooper have all introduced brand-specific bicycles.

Bikes are still a small portion of automakers’ business and may, at least initially, be aimed more at branding than any sort of substitution for their core product. Still, Joel Batterman at Network blog Transport Michigan wonders what the carmakers’ foray into bicycling says about our evolution as a culture. And could the Big Three be far behind?

Could the Taurus commuter follow in the footsteps of the Hummer folding mountain bike? Photo: Transport Michigan

There’s considerable symbolic significance in this phenomenon. “De-motorization” is already a well-documented phenomenon among Japanese youth, who feel that “having a car is so 20th century.” It’s something else entirely to see it happening among automakers themselves.

U.S. automakers have occasionally branded some bikes. Instead of urban commuter bikes, however, they’ve mostly been mountain bikes designed in keeping with their cars’ off-road image. The Hummer LX is one example. However, it’s doubtful anyone ever conceived the LX as “part of a green city solution,” as Peugeot terms its two-wheelers, since the Hummer brand tended to be more associated with running over the natural world than protecting it.

As Detroit planning consultant Toni Griffin has suggested, it may be time for Detroit to start thinking in terms of “transportation innovation,” not just automobile innovation, especially as the world continues to change. Ford dabbled in mass transit after the energy crises of the ’70s, and no clear lines divided the field’s pioneers a century ago.

Batterman points out that the auto industry has historical ties to cycling and public transit. Henry Ford was a bike commuter who started out in the streetcar business. And Detroit tire manufacturing also has its origin in the cycling industry. An evolution toward manufacturing other modes of transport, could, in a way, bring the industry back to its roots.

Elsewhere on the Network today: Burning the Midnight Oil says that even if some projects are scrapped, expanded passenger rail is here to stay in the U.S. Greater Greater Washington ponders what it would take eliminate death and serious injury on our roadways. And The Transport Politic weighs in on the idea of extending a subway line to New Jersey instead of builing the ARC tunnel.

The ADAC (German car club) have licensed a child’s bike, and Mercedes have made bikes for some years now. Mind you, the quality isn’t always great: we had some car company-branded bikes brought to the bike shop I work at for repair and they were so bad we decided they were part of a conspiracy to put people off cycling.

http://www.livablestreets.com/people/Stacy Stacy

That Hummer bike bears a strong resemblance to both the Puma and Jeep bikes. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re all manufactured in China for rebranding by any company who can design a logo to fit the top bar. Maybe they even have some demos with the decal “your name here”

ZA

Worth taking a moment to recognize what’s going on behind the labels.

1. Peugot first divided its bicycle operation from its car operation, then spun off Cycle Peugot to various owners, with the brand last being owned by http://www.cycleurope.com/ . I do not know the current status of the Peugeot bicycle label, and whether it is in production, by whom, and in which markets.

The car-branded bikes are made in Asian factories. Don’t believe the hype.

Chris

Either way by buying a bike from a car maker, you’re basically supporting the auto-industry because the majority of profits for car makers are derived from, well, cars. I’d say better to buy a bike from a reputable company where there primary business is bicycles not cars, not the other way around.

http://www.greenbikelove.blogspot.com Spencer

Here in Japan bikes with car logos are everywhere! I always laugh at the Hummer in particular. And I too get the feeling they are all similarly manufactured.

http://www.transportmichigan.org Joel Batterman

As far as I know, just about all mass-market bikes in the US are indeed made in China. My speculation that we could one day see domestically-produced, union-made bikes in the US (outside the narrow craft market) represents a distant dream, not an imminent fact.

That said, whatever we think of their main line of work, I think carmakers’ interest in bikes is a hopeful sign. I also wonder if some consumers might be willing to check in with major US brands (e.g. Trek) to look at labor practices in their overseas factories.

Peter Engel

Chris,

I don’t understand your statement.

Peugeot has made fine bicycles for over 100 years. The high-end ones sold here in the Seventies are treasured collector items. Its car and bike operations have always been separate.

While neither Peugeot bikes or cars are sold here anymore, are Europeans committing more wrong buying a bicycle from them as opposed to Trek, Raleigh or anyone else? On that basis, any conglomerate that sells one “good” product — say solar panels — should be avoided because they might also own an aerospace division. As a socially-responsible investor, I can tell you that there are limits to how these choices are made.

http://www.livablestreets.com/people/drother Daniel Rother

Two years ago I purchased the Cadillac Fleetwood Cruiser Bike with Seamless NuVinci Shifting and it is wonderful. I ride every day when the weather is fair in Minneapolis. Being almost 50 years old I opted for a comfortable ride and dependability over speed.

JamesR

Infrastructurist covered this story a month or so ago and I’m going to paraphrase what I wrote in response:

‘The specs on these bikes are marginal. Crappy, low end components and a generic frame. These bikes are probably built up from a frame that is sourced from another manufacturer (like Giant, the largest bike manufacturer in the world) and just branded as BMWs. In fact, they look like something you’d be able to get from one of those on-line companies like Bikes Direct for 1/4 the cost.

I’m highly skeptical that the catchet associated with a luxury car brand such as BMW would carry over to the bicycle world, as the latter industry has over 120+ years of history as a totally different animal than the auto industry’

In other words, these bikes are clunkers and most bike shops aren’t going to want anything to do with them.

Peter Engel

My love for old Peugeot bikes notwithstanding. JamesR is right.

Several years back a California buddy bought his dream sports car, a ’95 BMW M3 that was just a few years old. It came with a BMW-branded folding mountain bike.

Though better than the folders sold at KMart or JobLot, it was no Swift or Bike Friday. Kind of heavy and with fairly low-end Shimano, it’s BMW decals were peeling. The bike’s best attributes were that it fit neatly in the trunk, and it was good to have if the car ever broke down. Since the car was reliable and my friend had better bikes, it got little use and was eventually donated.

http://www.transitmiami.com JM Palacios

GMC has been in on it for years. I own a GMC Envoy bicycle I bought in 2006, plus they make several others like Yukon and Denali. Kent makes it for them and slaps the appropriate stickers on the bicycle. I think it has more to do with giving you something to haul in your new SUV that matches the brand. I don’t recommend them unless you are just getting into bicycling. I got hit by a car two weeks ago and promptly replaced the bike with a Trek since the frame was damaged.

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